I just finished a service project with a group of middle school girls. We were cleaning out the underside of a deck, which was used as a storage for old wood. Well, it all rotted away, and we had to clean the whole shabang out. Within two hours, it was spotless.
How did I do this, you ask? I set the tone, that’s how.
It was hot today. There were bugs. You had to bend over a good bit to get under the deck. It was clear these girls didn’t wanna perform this project, but luckily I had good rapport, and was able to be a source of encouragement to them. Most notably, I set a good example by getting into the hardest to reach nooks and crannies under that deck, pulling out the mud-caked planks of wood. I’m not gonna lie, their hesitation felt like a bit of a hindrance, but eventually everyone was contributing.
The finished product was beautiful, and I was proud of my team. I think they were too tired to take in our accomplishment, but that’s okay.
As my team of fellow interns go abroad, we’re gonna hafta perform some tough tasks, and some of us will be better at them than others. The key is patience, and remembering we’re all part of this unified team, focused on the same outcome.
I hope this blog post has been encouraging. Have a beautiful day. I love you!